Bainbridge Island Review

A suspected drunk driver who was arrested after crashing into a power pole on Manzanita Drive tried to escape in a bizarre attempt that included chewing his shoelaces.

According to a Bainbridge Island police report on the incident, police responded to a pickup truck crash at 1:51 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5.

The driver, 22, a Bainbridge Island resident, first ignored officers when police found the man inside his truck.

Instead, the driver started playing with his dog inside the truck.

Eventually, he gave police a driver's license that was punched. Officers discovered that the license was suspended due to a previous drunk driving conviction.

Officers suspected the driver was intoxicated once again. The man's mood went from "surly, to crying, to laughing," according to a police report.

When asked if he had been drinking that night, the driver refused to answer and asked for an attorney.

But before officers could place the man into their patrol car, the man began lecturing them about the differences between a telephone pole and a pole carrying power lines, and claimed he in fact did not crash into power lines as they suggested, but a telephone pole.

Officers began reading the driver his Miranda rights, but he spoke over them and ignored the officers. The man's mother was called to pick up his dog from the scene.

While en route to the police station, the driver slipped his handcuffs from behind his back. He then tied his shoelaces to the handcuffs and said he was trying to escape.

Officers then cut the shoelaces off.

After the driver was able to speak with his attorney, he agreed to take a breath test.

Police said they had trouble giving the breath test at first because it appeared the man was chewing on something.

The driver said he wasn't chewing anything, but officers discovered pieces of plastic in the man's mouth.

The plastic appeared to have originated from his shoelaces. It took three attempts for the driver to spit all the plastic out.

When he did take breath tests, it registered .223 and .245 blood alcohol levels.

As he was being transported to jail, the driver once again slipped his handcuffs from behind him, despite officers instructing him to leave them be.

He then began playing with the seatbelt and trying to open the locked doors of the patrol car.

When he couldn't open the doors, the man began scrapping the manufacturer's stickers off parts of the car around him. He also began spiting on the windows and other areas inside of the vehicle.

As the windows began fogging up, the driver began drawing on the foggy windows.

He wrote "I," then a heart symbol, and then drew a picture of a penis.

The police officers noted it was very disrespectful, and the man apologized before wiping off the window.

Before being booked into jail, police searched the driver's pockets and found several pieces of plastic that had been torn from the back seat of the patrol car.

The driver was booked on a $2,500 bond for DUI and $2,500 for driving without a license.